In Fiddler on the Roof, Tevye sings about “Tradition.” To mankind, winter brings a plethora of celebrations – holidays. Each holiday has its rituals and its meanings. The holiday season is a time for family and friends as well as for contemplation on what the year has brought to us and what may be still missing that we thought would be there at the end of the year. However, the holiday season is also for experiencing long established traditions and creating new ones that could be a blending of customs from various sources.
When my husband and I celebrated our first Christmas with children, we went through this challenge. My tradition included a midnight church service, coming home for hot cocoa and the opening of one present. This was usually one that came from a relative for afar. Then, off to bed to wait for Santa to bring the rest of the presents. My paternal grandfather actually played Santa one year and brought my very best gift of a homemade doll house. It was my treasured possession for many years. It was off to church again before packing up to go to my aunt’s house in the even years and preparing the meal at our house in the odd years. Presents were not opened until everyone arrived. This was torture!
My husband’s tradition did not include church; did not include opening presents on Christmas Eve and did not include a fake tree – live trees only and not flocked (We had had both flocked and fake in the recent past.). While the tree was up and decorated, on Christmas morning, there were sheets covering all the openings to the living room where the tree and the presents Santa brought in the night were. No one went in until after a fully cooked breakfast. This was a different type of torture.
How do you blend these traditions? We struggled, argued and compromised to make new traditions. The girls and I went to the Christmas Eve service, while Clark organized the presents and put together some of them in the garage. Santa left the stockings outside the curtained room. Those presents were opened in the kitchen while I made breakfast. We had a live tree, until Clark realized just how dangerous a dried out Christmas tree can be. It was this realization that had us move to a beautiful fake tree that fooled many of our friends.
Traditions are the aspects around which memories are built; stories are told; and lives are experienced. During this time of reflection, what traditions have you built? Is it time to build new ones that are in line with who you are now? Let’s build some new traditions around your dreams for 2014. Take the Dare and let’s get started.